/ 10 November 2004

Does that judge look familiar to you?

A Romanian judge on Wednesday resigned after being accused of starring in an X-rated video, officials said.

Simona Lungu (36), a judge at the Bucharest Tribunal, was investigated by judicial authorities over allegations that she acted in an adult video that was sold in Denmark.

Lungu denied it was her in the movie and asked the Forensic Institute, a state crime lab, to help her clear her name by taking photos of her and comparing them to the video.

Instead, the institute concluded it was her in the video.

Lungu contested the institute’s findings and asked members of the Superior Council for Magistrates, which oversees judges, to clear her name, but they refused.

The council voted on Wednesday to accept her resignation from the Bench, said Justice Minister Cristian Diaconescu.

”The debates in the case are over,” he said after the council’s meeting.

The scandal led to the resignation of the head of the council, Dan Lupascu, who said he was unfairly accused by other council members of committing errors in investigating Lungu’s case.

Lupascu withdrew his resignation on Wednesday, after Diaconescu asked him to reconsider his decision, private news agency Mediafax reported.

The story has run in Romanian newspapers for the past few weeks, with images from the movie Secrets of Seduction printed next to photos of the judge. — Sapa-AP